Aerial tramway hopper car



March 15, 1960 L. J. VOGEL 2,928,359

AERIAL TRAMWAY HOPPER CAR Filed March 5, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORMarch 15, 1960 L. J. VOGEL 2,928,359

AERIAL TRAMWAY HOPPER CAR Filed March 5, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Flg ,4!-"i'* .A

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INVENTOR Leo J. Vogel March 15, 1960 1.. J. VOGEL 2,928,359

AERIAL TRAMWAY HOPPER CAR Filed March 5. 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 6.3?"

a A \J INVENTOR. Leo J. Vogel BY My y United States Patent 2,928,359Patented Mar. 15, 1960 AERIAL TRAMWAY HOPPER CAR Leo J. Vogel,Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application March 5, 1956, Serial No. 569,622 Claims. (Cl. 105-242 Thisinvention relates to aerial tramways and particularly to a tramway cardumping mechanism for an aerial tramway controlled by the movement ofthe tramcar. Aerial tramways are used to a large extent in the miningand related industries and in situations where it is uneconomical toinstall trackway on the surface; in general, aerial tramways have asupporting cable or cables upon which a carriage runs. A car issuspended from the carriage and the carriage and car are moved on thesupporting cable or cables by means of pulling cables on each side ofthe carriage so that it may move forward or in reverse on the supportingcables. The car is conventionally provided with a door hinged to openunder the pressure of the load and to close by gravity when the load hadbeen discharged. A spring mounted latch acts to lock the door in theclosed position. One of the problems of real importance in aerialtramway operation has been controlling the point at which the dooropened and the load in the car was discharged. There has long been aneed for a positive means for unlatching the door at any varied selectedpoint on the tramway cable. Various devices have been proposed toaccomplish this but, in the main, they have not beencompletely'satisfactory for one or more reasons.

I provide in an aerial tramway car having a door, latch means on the carfor controlling the opening and closing of the door and a carriage forsuspending the car, a latch operating mechanism comprising a shaftrotatable by the movement of the carriage in either direction, eccentricmeans on the shaft, pawl means mounted at one end on the eccentric meansfor movement therewith, a second shaft spaced from and parallel to thedriven shaft, toothed ratchet means on said second shaft in the path ofthe pawl means and engageable thereby, means intermediate the drivershaft and second shaft engaging the pawl whereby the pawl drivinglyengages the ratchet means on rotation of the shaft in one direction andbypasses the ratchet in the opposite direction, crank means on thesecond shaft rotatable therewith and connections between the crank meansand the latch means on the car whereby the crank means releases thelatch at its highest point of travel. Preferably a segmental disk isprovided on the second shaft with a cooperating reset lever meansmounted on the frame adjacent the second shaft and engageable with thesegmental cam, said lever acting to position the ratchet at each end ofthe tram. Preferably the means intermediate the two shafts supportingthe pawl means is a roller upon which the pawl means rides during atleast a portion of its movement.

In the foregoing statement I have pointed out certain of the objects,advantages and purposes of my invention. Other objects, purposes andadvantages will be apparent from a consideration of the followingdescription and the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure l is a side elevation of a tramcar with latch operated mechanismaccording to my invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the latch-operated mechanism of Figure1,.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the latch-operated mechanism of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a section on the line IV-IV of Figure 5;

Figure 5 is a section on the line V--V of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is an end elevation viewing Figure 5 from the right; 7

Figure 7 is a segmental view of the pawl rotating in clockwisedirection; and

Figure 8 is a segmental view of the pawl rotating in counterclockwisedirection.

A tramcar 10 is supported on a cable 11 by a carriage 12 having groovedsheave wheels 13 which run on the supporting cable 11. Driving cables 14are connected to the carriage at opposite sides thereofso as to move thecarriage and car in either direction on the supporting cable 11. Asprocket shaft 20 is driven by the rotation of the sheave wheels so asto rotate in one direction when the tramcar is traveling outward on thesupporting cables and in the reverse direction on the tramcars returntravel. A shaft 21 is driven from the shaft 20 through the chain andsprocket drive made up of a sprocket 22 on shaft 21, a sprocket 23 onshaft 2% and a drive chain 24. As shown in Figure 2, the shaft 21rotates counterclockwise on the outward travel of the tramcar andclockwise on the rea shaft 29 spaced from and generally parallel toshaft 21. V

A holding pawl 30 made up of side frames 30a and 30b and holding teeth30's engages the ratchet 28 to hold it against rotation. A spring 31 isinterposed between the pawl 26 and the holding pawl 30 so as to biasthem both into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet 28. Roller 2711changes the angle of approach of the pawl 26 to the ratchet 28 from afirst angle when the driven shaft rotates in one direction (see Figure8) to a second angle when the driven shaft rotates in the oppositedirection (see Figure 7). A crank arm 32 is mounted on a crank pin 32aon a reset wheel 39 fixed to the ratchet shaft 29 so that a half turn ofthe shaft raises the latch 33 on the door 34 of the tramcar by means ofa pull chain 35.

The ratchet wheel 28'has eleven teeth 28a-k inclusive spaced 30 apart onthe'center line of the ratchet teeth and a blank space leaving 60between two teeth.

A reset lever 37 is mounted on the carriage to engage a cut out segment38- of a reset wheel 39 keyed on the ratchet shaft 29. The reset leveris held against stop 37b out of engagement with reset wheel 39- by aspring 37a. A hinged stop 40 is positioned at the loading position toengage the reset lever 37 as the tramcar moves into position forloading.

The operation of the tramway structure described above is as follows:Assuming that the tramcar has been loaded, the car is moved away fromthe loading position by the driving or haul cables 14. As the car ismoved away from the loading position the shaft 21 is rotated in thecounterclockwise direction (viewing Figures 1, 2 and .4). The pawl 27rides on theroller 27a so that as the shaft 21 rotates the pawl tipcannot engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel and the shaft 29 remainsstationary.

When the tramcar has moved outwardly to the desired distance and isready for dumping the operator reverses the pull on the haul ropes so asto move the tramcar in the reverse direction causing shaft 21 to rotateclockwise. Upon this clockwise rotation, the tip of the pawl 27 is nolonger cammed out of tooth engagement by the roller 27:: but activelyengages the teeth 28a-k successively, thus rotating the ratchet shaft 29through 330, resulting in the raising of the crank arm 32 and thetripping of the door latch 33 on the door 34 with the consequent dumping.of the contents of the car followed by closing and relatching of thedoor. The rotation of the ratchet shaft 29 through 330 will be effectedby eleven turns of the' shaft 21.;W e11lthe eleven turns have been,completed, the parts will be in the position shown in Figure 4, with thetip of the pawl 2'1 lying ,in the gap between teeth 28a and 28k.,,Thestroke, of, the actuating pawl is only slightly, more than ,the spacingbetween the successive teeth and materially less than the gap betweenteeth 28a and Z8k. In consequence, whilethe tip of the pawl 27 remainswithin the radius of engagement with the ratchet teeththroughout thereturn travel, ofthetramcar, there is no rotation of the ratchet shaft29after thefirst eleven turnsof the shaft 21., ,The tipof the pawlmerely slides back and forthover the surface .of the ratchet between theteeth ,28a. and 28k.

:.;;When. the tran'lcarinearsthe loading pointythe reset lever: 37.passestzbeneath.a;1hinged stop 40. which 1stop. is

reset lever 37 moves under the stop 40 the ratchet shaft 29 is caused torotate clockwise a sufficient distance to bring the tooth 28a intoposition to receive the pawl tip 27, thus completing the resetting ofthe device. As the tramcar is moved outwardly with its load, theoperational steps of dumping are the same as those that havebeensalready described.

7 While I have described a presently preferred'embodiment of myinvention, it will be understood that the invention may be otherwiseembodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an aerial tramway car having a door, a latch means on thedoor forlatching the door and a carriage for suspending said car, a latchoperating mechanism comprising a driven shaft journaled on the carriageand ratchet means fixed on the secondshaft in the path of the pawl meansand engageablethereby, said ratchet means having a portion free ofteeth, fulcruming means intermediate the driven shaft and second shaftsupporting the pawl and directing the pawl tangentially to the root ofthe teeth of the ratchet means to change the angle of approach of thepawl to the ratchet means from a first angle in which the tip of thepawl is directed toward the ratchet means'when the driven shaft rotatesin one direction and to a second angle in which the tip of the pawl isdirected away from the ratchet means when the driven shaft rotates in,the oppositedirection, whereby the pawl drivingly engages the ratchetmeans on, rotation of the 1 driven shaft in said one-direction aiidridesin the portion free of teeth when the driven shaft rotates in saidopposite direction, crank means on the second shaft rotatable therewithand connections between the crank means and latch means whereby the;crankameans: releases the latch means intermediate its rotation. t In anaerial tramway car having a door, latchvmeans on the door for latchingthe door and a'carriage .for suspending said canya latch operatingmechanism comprising a driven shaft journaled on thevcarriage and drivemeans to rotatesaid drive shaft, eccentric means on the shaft formovement therewith, pawl means pivotally journaled at one end on theeccentric means for movement therewith, a second shaft journaled on thecarriage spaced from and parallel tothe driven shaft, toothed ratchetmeans fixed on the secondtshaft in the path of the pawl means andengageable thereby, said ratchet means having teeth spaced at30intervals about the ratchet with one tooth removed to leave an arcuateportion, roller fulcruming means intermediate the driven drivemeans torotate said driven shaft, eccentric means on the driven shaft formovement therewith, elongated pawl means pivotally journaled at one endon the eccentric means for movement therewith, a second shaft journaledon the carriage spaced from and parallel to a the driven shaft, toothedratchet means fixed on said second shaft in the path of the pawl meansand engageable thereby, fulcruming means intermediate the driven shaftand second shaft engaging the pawl to change the angle of approach ofthe pawl to the ratchet means from shaft and secondshaft supporting thepawl anddirecting the pawl tangentially toward the root of the=teeth ofthe ratchet means to change the angle of approach of the pawl to theratchet means from a first angle in which the tip of the pawl isdirected toward the ratchet means when the driven shaft rotates in onedirection and to a second angle in which the tip of the pawl is directedaway from the ratchet means when the driven shaft rotates in theopposite direction, whereby the pawl drivingly engages the ratchet meanson rotation of the driven shaft in said one direction and rides on thearcuate portion of the ratchet wheel on rotation of the driven shaft insaid opposite direction, crank means on the second shaft rotatabletherewith and connections between the crank means and latch means on thecar whereby the crank means releases the latch means once during arotation of the second shaft.

4. In an aerial tramway car having a door, latch means on the door forlatching the door and a car riage for suspending said car, a latchoperating mecha a first angle in which the tip ofthepawl is directedtoward the ratchet means when the driven shaft rotates in one directionand to a second angle in which the tip of the pawl is directed away fromthe ratchet means when the driven shaft rotates in the oppositedirection, whereby the pawl drivingly engages the ratchet means onrotation of the driven shaft in said one direction and bypasses theratchet means on rotation of the driven shaft in said oppositedirection, crank means on the second shaft rotatable therewith andconnections between the crank means and latch means on the door wherebythe crank means releases the latch means once during a rotation of thesecond shaft. V a

2. In an aerial tramway carhaving a door, latch means on the door forlatching the door and afcarriage for suspending said car a latchoperating mechanism comprising a driven shaft journaled on the carriageand drive means to rotate saiddriven shaft, eccentric means on the shaftfor movement therewith, :1 awlmeans pivotally journaled at one end onthe eccentric means for move ment therewith, a .second shaftjournaledonthecarriage spaced from and parallel to the driven shaft,toothed nism comprising a driven shaft journaled on the carriage anddrive means to rotate said drive shaft, eccentric means on the shaft formovement therewith, pawl means pivotally journaled at one end on theeccentric means for movement therewith, a second shaft journaled on thecarriage spaced from and parallel to the driven shaft, toothed ratchetmeans fixed onthe second shaft in the path of the pawl means andengageable thereby, said ratchet means having a'portion free of teeth, aholding pawl spacedfrom the pawl means and engaging the teeth of theratchet to restrict rotation of the secondshaft to a single direction,resilient biasing means biasing the holding pawl and pawl means towardeach other and the ratchet means, fulcruming means intermediate thedriven shaft and second shaft supporting the pawl means and dlrectingthe pawl means tangentially to the root of the teeth of the ratchetmeans to change the angle of approach of the pawl to the ratchet meansfrom a first angle in which the tip of the pawl is directedftoward theratchet means when the driven shaft rotates ingone direction and to asecond angle inwhich the tip of the pawl is directed away from theratchet means when the driven shaft rotates in the opposite direction,whereby the pawl means drivingly engages the ratchet means on rotationof the driven shaft in said one direction and rides in the portion freeof teeth when the driven shaft rotates in said opposite direction, crankmeans on the second shaft rotatable therewith and connections betweenthe crank means and latch means whereby the crank means releases thelatch means intermediate its rotation.

5. In an aerial tramway car having a door, latch means on the door forlatching the door and a carriage for suspending said car, a latchoperating mechanism comprising a driven shaft journaled on the carriageand drive means to rotate said drive shaft, eccentric means on the shaftfor movement therewith, pawl means pivotally journaled at one end on theeccentric means for movement therewith, a second shaft journaled on thecarriage spaced from and parallel to the driven shaft, toothed ratchetmeans fixed on the second shaft in the path of the pawl means andengageable thereby, said ratchet means having a portion free of teeth,fulcruming means intermediate the driven shaft andsecond shaftsupporting the pawl and directing the pawl tangentially to the root ofthe teeth of the ratchet means to change the angle of approach of thepawl to the ratchet means from a first angle in which the tip of thepawl is directed toward the ratchet means when the driven shaft rotatesin one direction and to a second angle in which the tip of the pawl isdirected away from the ratchet means when the driven shaft rotates inthe opposite direction, whereby the pawl drivingly engages the ratchetmeans shaft a distance equal to the portion free of teeth after thecompletion of each rotation of the second shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,209,917 Westinghouse Dec. 28, 1916 1,378,428 Speight May 17, 19211,532,812 Grice Apr. 7, 1925 1,643,214 Kilcarr Sept. 20, 1927 1,652,209Morrison Dec. 13, 1927 1,735,923 Helgeby Nov. 19 1929 1,749,879 GoddardMar. 11, 1930 1,798,916 Tittensor Mar. 31, 1931 1,884,111 Morgan Oct.25, 1932 2,095,552 Kilcarr Oct. 12, 1937 2,234,094 Sprinkle Mar. 4, 19412,422,738 Lentz June 24, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS 68,117 Denmark Dec. 13,1938 1,115,366 France Dec. 26, 1955

